Knowledge Gateway response

Sheffield Council is currently consulting on the Knowledge Gateway redevelopment scheme.The redevelopment is in the city centre, running along Fitzalan Square, Flat Street, Pond Street, Paternoster Row and Brown Street. The consultation finishes on the 28th of February.

Sheffield Council have released the Traffic Regulation Orders for the scheme now which you can see here, here and here. As far as we can see there has only been one change since the initial consultation. The bus gate by Howard Street is now not being moved which means that the scheme does not create a new rat run through the car park.

CycleSheffield’s response to the Knowledge Gateway scheme

Improving public space for people is to be encouraged but in its present form the Knowledge Gateway scheme creates serious problems due to a lack of transport planning. There will continue to be heavy bus and taxi traffic in the area, it gives less priority to pedestrians crossing, and undermines the safety and convenience of people cycling.

This is already a well-used and signed route for people on bikes and the scheme needs to reflect this. Sheffield also has ambitious targets for cycling and so any new scheme needs to anticipate significantly increased cycle traffic and include high quality provision to both enable and accommodate it. To expand cycling beyond current cyclists it is vital to provide convenient routes for people who do not wish to mix with heavy traffic.

However, this is missing from the current designs. The designs appear to be old and are out of date with current council transport policy and ambitions, as well as acceptable design practice. If they are implemented they would degrade the current cycle route.

Specific points:

A ‘dooring’ hazard would be created which does not currently exist for people using red painted cycle lanes alongside on-road parking along Brown Street and Paternoster Row. There will be an unhelpful expectation from some drivers that people on bikes should only be using marked lanes, despite this being unsafe. On the design below a dooring hazard exists where there are green, blue and purple boxes (indicating parked vehicles).

Painted cycle lanes interrupted by bus stops are especially inadequate when the carriageway width is reduced to a bi-directional single centre lane. A parked bus will obstruct sight lines and it becomes hazardous to overtake as there may be vehicles approaching in the opposite direction. Painted cycle lanes in this two-way layout encourage drivers to assume against cycles approaching in the centre of the road when going around stopped buses. See image below:

Loading is permitted in the cycle lanes along most of Brown Street and Paternoster rendering these lanes useless. People on bikes will have to pull out into the centre of the road to pass loading vehicles.

Servicing/loading for the Showroom café and cinema will take place on-street, where road is narrowed, and with a bus stop opposite. This creates further hazards for cyclists and could also result in the road being entirely blocked.

Pond Hill is not wide enough to include all of: a traffic lane, a contraflow cycle lane and 2 taxi ranks (one on either side of the road). The Knowledge Gateway scheme does not include the improvements which should have been delivered as part of the Digital Campus development (see image below).

The route from Haymarket to Flat Street would be made even less appealing for people on bikes given the numbers of buses, as the straight-on route will be removed. A ‘dog leg’ manoeuvre will be required on Commercial Street.

Flat Street has been narrowed but retains bus stops on either side of the road. If both bus stops are in use the highway is effectively reduced to one lane. This design is hazardous for people on bikes but creates problems for all road users.

The removal of three signalised pedestrian crossings without a reduction of traffic levels makes using these crossings difficult and potentially dangerous for pedestrians, particularly visually impaired people.

Taxis will wait on footway along Paternoster Row when collecting and dropping off customers for the train station if no measures are included in this scheme to prevent this.

How to improve scheme:

Segregated cycle lanes are required given the volume of traffic, especially buses. These would also resolve the issues with cycling past parked cars, buses and loading vehicles by providing separate, safe space for cycling. These would need to run north-south through the scheme but also link to the train station.

If a segregated cycle route cannot be provided then:

no parking and no loading restrictions are required for the painted cycle lanes.

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2 thoughts on “Knowledge Gateway response”

As a road user as a car driver, pedestrian, passenger on public transport and cyclist I feel we now have a fantastic opportunity to improve conditions for all of the above. We all want to reach our destination as quickly as possible and we would all like priority at every junction but overriding this we all want to get to our destination safely.

As a motorist and bus passenger I get frustrated in traffic but I am happy with my journe y on most occasions and never feel at risk.

As a pedestrian there are things that could be better, I need to know when I am crossing or walking in a dedicated cycle path, I want footpaths clear of street furniture in vulnerable areas, I want crossings that allow me to cross the full width of the road rather than wait on a central reservation, and I want crossings that give me time to do so. Overall I want to feel comfortable and safe as a pedestrian.

It is as a cyclist I feel most at risk, we have cycle paths on main roads that suddenly cease and start up again 100 meters further along, we have cycle paths that are often blocked by parked vehicles, we have cycle paths that are not clearly marked and put us in conflict with pedestrians, there is street furniture that causes risk, we have cycle paths that are rarely cleaned, we have drop kerbs that do not line up from side to side. All in all we have too many barriers to encouraging the novice to be confident cycling.

If we are to continue with our aims to get Sheffield active then this gateway offers a great starting point to make sure we have a system that is safe for pedestrians and cyclists, giving us a model to take further across the city and encourage active citizens.

I fully support the response from Cycle Sheffield, but this scheme must be catalyst for change to protect and encourage pedestrians and cyclists across our city